Update: It's not clear how much the EX1 is related to the GX1 and CS80. According to Colin f in the comments of this post, the oscillators are digital. The EX1 was released in 1977, the same year the Synclavier was released, as well the same year Bell Labs Digital Synthesizer was developed. You can find some history on digital synthesis on Wikipedia here. The EX1 is not mentioned. According to Mark Jenkins in the comments of this post, the EX1 is is a preset version of the GX1.
"Comes complete with: One TX-III matching tone cabinet. Stool. Pedal board. Music stand. Original Yamaha voltage converter.
The good bits: In good overall condition with minor marks. All keys/pedals work. Tone cabinet works and sounds great. All the controls apart from the ones listed work perfectly.
The bad bits: One note on the lower orchestra (synthesizer) section occasionally sticks, not sure what the fault is. Tremolo function doesn't work - it's probably the belt or motor inside the tone cabinet, I use it connected to an amplifier through its separate out so don't use this function. Sine wave LFO waveshape on the solo synth not working (other waveshapes work fine).
This is an amazing sounding instrument which can layer different types of analog/digital synthesier and organ tones all at once. Very hard to find and in very nice cosmetic shape. Cost £27,000 back in 1977!"
"Synth and Software presents: Oberheim's Lost Classic - The OB12. Mark Jenkins profiles a synth that continues to divide opinion after 20 years"
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Some of the divide comes from the OB12 being a Viscount virtual analog. Viscount licensed the Oberheim name.
Sound demos come in at 5:36. It kind of reminds me of an Akai AX-60 in character more than a vintage Oberheim. I actually own both, and vintage Oberheim. It has a similar edge to the AX-60. The OB-12 does excel at pads and warm strings. It's an intersting synth.
"A quick look at the Latvian-made synth which brings MIDI and patch programmability to the classic EMS VCS3 and Synthi A layout. www.markjenkinsmusic.com"
"A first look at Arturia's Polybrute polyphonic analog synth, some sounds, basic editing, touch sensitivity and other controllers, and effects. From the forthcoming book "SYNTHESIZERS: 50 YEARS" (ZyXyZ Books, London 2021)"
"Circa 1975: A photo from the Frankfurt Music Fair
Peter Zinovieff in the EMS synthesizer booth.
They are featuring the rare SYNTHI P model, just announced on the left side and stand. Underneath the board listing EMS musical artists is a SYNTHI HI-FLI effects unit is barely seen. Another unusual/prototype model is next to the Hi-Fli."
Peter Zinovieff and Electronic Music Studios video upload by JeffreyPlaide
Peter Zinovieff: Synth Pioneer video upload by Sound On Sound magazine Jul 21, 2016
Peter Zinovieff talks about modern musical interfaces video upload by Expressive E Jan 6, 2016
Peter Zinovieff feature uploaded by Erica Synths on Nov 23, 2020. This was the latest video to feature Peter Zinovieff that I am aware of.
Peter Zinovieff interview 2015 video upload by 香港電子音樂社 Hong Kong Electronic Music Society Jun 30, 2015
Dr Peter Zinovieff intro & performance excerpt - Deliaphonic 2017 video upload by Deliaphonic Aug 29, 2018
And a few perspectives from others:
Bright Sparks Behind The Scenes - The Brits video by GForce Software published Feb 16, 2021
Cosmic Tape Music Club Podcast hosted by The Galaxy Electric - E1 Peter Zinovieff
video by The Galaxy Electric published Jan 27, 2021
"Peter Zinovieff, a hugely influential figure in British music whose early synthesisers helped to change the sound of pop, has died aged 88. He had suffered a fall at home earlier this month.
With its marketing slogan 'think of a sound – now make it', his company Electronic Music Studios (EMS) was one of the first to bring synthesisers out of studios and to the public. With products such as the portable VCS3 and Synthi A, EMS customers – including David Bowie, Kraftwerk, the Who, Tangerine Dream and Pink Floyd – were often taught to use the instruments by Zinovieff.
In 1967 he collaborated with Paul McCartney on Carnival of Light, a performance of a 14-minute avant garde composition created between Beatles sessions for Penny Lane that has never been released.
He was also a respected composer of his own work, including early experiments with AI composition and sampling – he claimed to have invented the latter technique." You can read the full post here.
"Peter Zinovieff (26 January 1933 – 23 June 2021) was a British engineer and composer, whose EMS company made the VCS3 synthesizer in the late 1960s. The synthesizer was used by many early progressive rock bands such as Pink Floyd[3] and White Noise, and Krautrock groups[4] as well as more pop-oriented artists, including Todd Rundgren and David Bowie. In later life he worked primarily as a composer of electronic music.
Zinovieff was born on 26 January 1933;[5] his parents, Leo Zinovieff and Sofka, née Princess Sophia Dolgorouky, were both Russian aristocrats, who met in London after their families had emigrated to escape the Russian Revolution and soon divorced.[6] During World War II he and his brother Ian lived with their grandparents in Guildford and then with their father in Sussex. He attended Guildford Royal Grammar School, Gordonstoun School and Oxford University, where he earned a doctorate in geology.[7][8]
Zinovieff's work followed research at Bell Labs by Max Mathews and Jean-Claude Risset, and an MIT thesis (1963) by David Alan Luce.[9] In 1966–67, Zinovieff, Delia Derbyshire and Brian Hodgson ran Unit Delta Plus, an organisation to create and promote electronic music. It was based in the studio Zinovieff had built, in a shed at his house in Putney. (The house is near the Thames, and the studio was later partially destroyed by a flood).[10][11] EMS grew out of MUSYS, which was a performance controller operating as an analogue-digital hybrid.[12] It was a synthesiser system which Zinovieff developed with the help of David Cockerell and Peter Grogono, and used two DEC PDP-8 minicomputers and a piano keyboard.[13] Unit Delta Plus ran a concert of electronic music at the Watermill Theatre in 1966, with a light show. In early 1967 they performed in concerts at The Roundhouse, at which the Carnival of Light was also played; they split up later in 1967.[11] Paul McCartney had visited the studio, but Zinovieff had little interest in popular music.[14]
In 1968, part of the studio was recreated at Connaught Hall, for a performance of pieces by Justin Connolly and David Lumsdaine.[15] At the IFIP congress that year, the composition ZASP by Zinovieff with Alan Sutcliffe took second prize in a contest, behind a piece by Iannis Xenakis.[16]
In 1969, Zinovieff sought financing through an ad in The Times but received only one response, £50 on the mistaken premise it was the price of a synthesiser. Instead he formed EMS with Cockerell and Tristram Cary.[17] At the end of the 1960s, EMS Ltd. was one of four companies offering commercial synthesizers, the others being ARP, Buchla, and Moog.[18] In the 1970s Zinovieff became interested in the video synthesizer developed by Robert Monkhouse, and EMS produced it as the Spectron.[19]
Jon Lord of Deep Purple described Zinovieff as "a mad professor type": "I was ushered into his workshop and he was in there talking to a computer, trying to get it to answer back".[20] Trevor Pinch and Frank Trocco, in their history of the synthesizer revolution, see him rather as aristocratically averse to "trade".[21]
Zinovieff wrote the libretto for Harrison Birtwistle's opera The Mask of Orpheus,[22] and also the words for Nenia: The Death of Orpheus (1970).[23] The section Tristan's Folly in Tristan (1975) by Hans Werner Henze included a tape by Zinovieff."
Update:
Peter Zinovieff: A Tribute by CatSynth TV
video upload by CatSynth TV
"We look back at the life and work of Peter Zinovieff, who passed away last week at the age of 88. His work at Electronic Music Studios (EMS) was a major influence on musicians of the 1970s and beyond. At EMS, he co-created the well-known and coveted VCS3 and Synthi series. But he was also a composer in his own right, working on pioneering electronic music in the 1960s and returning to active composition in the 2010s with several collaborations with artists in other media and exploring massive sound spatialization.
Additional background music provided via the Arturia Synthi V as a tribute."
"A powerful programmable digital module with assignable control voltage inputs. Based on Rebel Technology's Owl system and programmable using Faust, Max and other languages. Digital reverb, delay and Harmonic Oscillator are just the start of its abilities. Reviewed in depth in the forthcoming book 'Synthesizers; 50 Years'."
"Befaco offers many modules in built or kit form, often with quite unusual designs. PERCALL helps you create a drum machine within your modular system - see this quick review for how to do it."
"MARK JENKINS author of the 'Analog Synthesizers' book looks at the Korg opsix, a compact FM digital synthesizer with analog-like filters, sequencer and effects."
"The T2000 was sold only in kit form and this unit has been very well constructed (see interior photo) with a nice style of large knurled control knobs chosen, and unusually a small Roland style knob added to what is usually just the stump of a potentiometer for overall tuning.
Although this unit has never been anywhere near Martin Hannett or any member of Joy Division or New Order AFAIK, it was the unit featured in the book "Analog Synthesizers" (2nd Edition 2019, pp. 364-5) and for many sounds on the CD "Sequencer Loops" (2002) by Mark Jenkins of which a brand new copy is included.
"Thanks to all the labels and distributors - Space Age Recordings, Finders Keepers, Roundtable Distribution, State of Matter, Lakeshore and Universal/Virgin"
Ninth Electronic Music Festival comes to Birmingham and once again it includes an all-day free electronic music event featuring talks, demonstrations, interactive sessions, synth manufacturer attendance, a room for attendees to set up and show off their synth gear and a number of free live performances!
The festival once again sees the addition of a ‘raffle’ to the all-day free event in aid of Drake Music who are the leaders in music, disability and technology.
In March of 2020 the ninth ‘The Seventh Wave Festival of Electronic Music’ takes place across three days. For a relatively small festival The Seventh Wave continues to get some of the biggest names in electronic and progressive music.
This time around you can feast your eyes (and ears!) on no less than three either current or former members of global electronic giants Tangerine Dream.
On Friday evening, the headliner is Ulrich Schnauss, who as well as being a distinguished solo performer in his own right is a ‘modern day’ member of Tangerine Dream. Ulrich will be playing a rare live set alongside the founder of Engineers, Mark Peters. On the same bill you also get psychedelic electronic rock behemoth’s Teeth Of The Sea.
On Saturday evening, the headliner is Tangerine Dream ‘bandleader’ Thorsten Quaeschning who will also play a set alongside Ulrich Schnauss in which they will perform tracks from the ground breaking “Synthwaves” album as well as material from their new album. If that wasn’t enough, there will also be a very rare solo alto flute and loops ambient set by Theo Travis of Soft Machine/Gong/King Crimson.
On Sunday, Mark Jenkins performs “50 Years of Tangerine Dream” where the instrumentation will literally go from “metal stick” to “cash register” to modern day “Synths” in an all-encompassing show.
To cap it all, the Festival finishes with Steve Jollife (who played in one of the earliest incarnations of Tangerine Dream) and he will be performing the Tangerine Dream album Cyclone ‘in-full’.
Tickets can be purchased for the individual paid events from Skiddle at
https://www.skiddle.com/groups/theseventhwave/ and for the free event which runs from 10.00 am until 5.00 pm people can just turn up on the day, stay for a few minutes, or get hooked and end up of staying all day!"
"A look at the polyphonic MOOG ONE, thanks to KMR Audio in N. London for the facilities. This video will be added in the next update to the website of the new book ANALOG SYNTHESIZERS 2nd Edition, now available worldwide through Amazon."
According to the listing, only four exist. There have been a total of only three posts here on MATRIXSYNTH to feature the Stinger before this one. All three were auction posts.
"The London launch concert of the 'Change of Cosmic Address' tribute CD to Edgar Froese of Tangerine Dream, new music by Chris Jenkins and Mark Jenkins. CD available anywhere in the world from www.amazon.co.uk"
"Miniature semi-modular analog synth system for sale in London comprising MFB Kraftzwerg synth, MFB Urzwerg Sequencer and Arturia MicroBrute synth on a custom support frame, all practically as new."
Anyone recognize the modular system? Roland JD-800 in there as well.
Update via lanksi in the comments: "That's a (particularly huge) Digisound 80 Modular :)"
"This is the video from the Live Concert in London, October 1991 that became Christopher Franke's album "The London Concert". The concert was performed by Christopher Franke and Edgar Rothermich (aka Richard E. Roth) and it was the only live show by Christopher Franke after he left Tangerine Dream
Christopher Franke www.ChristopherFranke.com
Edgar Rothermich ww.DingDingMusic.com
Festival Organizer: Mark Jenkins www.markjenkins.co/
Director: Clive Heaven
Producer: Andy Grant
World Leisure Corporation / AMP Records
Aditional Editing & Polishing: Edgar Rothermich
